Big Splash owner plans restaurant instead of reopening pool
The site's owner plans to open an unlicensed family restaurant by November 1 instead of reopening the pool.
The Big Splash water park in Macquarie has been closed for years. The owner won't reopen the 50-metre pool as promised by November 1.
Access Canberra confirmed the owner plans to run an unlicensed family restaurant at the site. The Crown lease allows this use among three options: an aquatic facility, an indoor sports facility, or a family restaurant.
Community group Save Big Splash says this is a betrayal. Spokesperson Amelia Tattam argues the promise was to reopen the pool.
It was not to serve meals beside a broken-down water park. The government announced on Tuesday it would start a year-long study on the site's future.
Without a pool opening by the deadline, the community group says the owner will have gained another delay. The owner would deliver nothing the community waited nearly three years for.
- 50-metre
- Pool size
- Macquarie
- Location
- 1 November 2026
- Deadline
- Save Big Splash
- Community group
Why it mattersCanberrans were promised the pool's return. They now face years of delay while the site stays closed, with a lease loophole letting the owner get around that commitment.
AustraliaMurrumbidgee locals lose access to the only 50-metre public pool in the area. The Canberra government's decision on how to enforce lease obligations will shape whether key public facilities can be abandoned this way.
✓ Claims checked against the source. checked 7 d ago
